Annenstrasse (Graz)
The Anne street is a street between Südtirolerplatz and Europe Square . It separates the fourth from the fifth Graz city district along its entire length and was a highly frequented shopping street that connected Graz Central Station with the city center.
Alignment
Annenstrasse is a “Geometerstrasse”, ie a street that is aligned at a certain point. In the specific case it is the tower of the Franciscan Church . Other Geometer streets in Graz are Conrad-von-Hötzendorf-Straße , Elisabethstraße and Theodor-Körner-Straße - they each radiate in one of the four cardinal directions.
Naming
It was named by Empress Maria Anna of Savoy (1803-1884), wife of Emperor Ferdinand I . The attempt to install Anna von Meran (née Plochl), the wife of Archduke Johann , as the namesake was unsuccessful. From the annexation of Austria to Germany in 1938 until the end of the Second World War in 1945, the street was called Krefelderstraße , named after the Graz sister city of Krefeld .
history
The Murvorstadt was located on the area of today's Südtirolerplatz and its surroundings. After the opening of the Graz-Mürzzuschlag railway line (1844) and the construction of the main train station (1842), the construction of the route from the Murvorstadt out of town began a little later to connect the new train station with the city center. In 1847 the first newly built section was opened, the Neue Bahnhofsstraße . Annenstrasse was made up of four streets: Barmherzigengasse , Seitzergasse , which was partially straightened in 1845 , Neue Bahnhofstrasse from Roseggerhaus and Neue Eggenberger Strasse from house number 63. From 1938 to 1945, after Austria was annexed to Germany and during the Second World War , the street was called Krefeldstrasse .
In the 1970s, Annenstrasse was still the third largest shopping street in Austria. Since then, however, it has clearly lost its importance. In 2012 and 2013, extensive construction work was carried out on Annenstrasse. The sidewalks have been widened and the roadside car parking spaces have been removed. Since then, most of the length of Annenstrasse has only been accessible to traffic in one direction (towards the city).
literature
- Karl A. Kubinzky, Astrid M. Wentner: Grazer street names. Origin and meaning . Leykam, Graz 1996, ISBN 3-7011-7336-2 , pp. 35-36 .
- Monika Stromberger, Ulrich Tragatschnig: Annenstrasse as a reflection of the history of Graz - from the construction of Geometer Strasse to the future as a boulevard . In: Historical yearbook of the city of Graz. Volume 40. Graz 2010. pp. 341-363.